The Missing Generations (SYOC)
by GummyPeachFrogs
Summary: This fic takes during the missing generations of Warriors, it's set right before the events of Mapleshade's Vengeance, and the main clan of this fic will be WindClan.
1. Chapter 1

**Leader: Froststar - white tom**

**Deputy: Stormbreeze - pale grey tabby she-cat**

**Medicine Cat: Larkwing - silver-grey tabby**

**_Apprentice:_ Chivepaw**

**Warriors:**

**Moor Runners:**

**Swiftflight - pale grey tabby tom**

**Midgepelt - patch-furred brown tom**

**Wheatpelt - pale brown tabby tom**

**Beeflight - pale torbie she-cat**

**Waspstorm - dark torbie she-cat**

**Tunnelers:**

**Hornetstrike - black and white tom**

_**Apprentice: Stoatpaw**_

**Marigoldshine - golden tabby she-cat**

**Featherleaf - fluffy black she-cat **

_**Apprentice: Sunpaw**_

**Apprentices:**

**Chivepaw - dark brown tom with yellow eyes**

**Sunpaw - pale ginger tabby she-cat**

**Stoatpaw - golden tabby tom with green eyes**

**Queens:**

**Antclaw - tortoiseshell and white she-cat (mother of Midgepelt's kits, Falconkit and Flamekit)**

**Molenose - black she-cat (mother of Hornetstrike's kits, Cricketkit, Flailkit, and Whitekit)**

**Kits:**

**Falconkit - mottled dark stone-grey tom with a white underside**

**Flamekit - dark ginger tom**

**Cricketkit - black she-cat with yellow eyes**

**Flailkit - black tom tom with yellow eyes**

**Whitekit - small, pure white tom**

**Elders:**

**Rosestem - ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes**

* * *

"Hey! Watch it!" Falconkit exclaimed, jumping aside to avoid the mud that flew back towards him.

"You watch it," the broad shouldered apprentice growled without turning around, "I'm trying to practice my tunneling skills, you're not even supposed to be out of the nursery."

Falconkit narrowed his eyes and flattened his ears, Stoatpaw thought he knew everything, just because Froststar was his father.

"Antclaw said I could be out here," he flicked his tail, "And it's good you're practicing, because you're doing it wrong."

This time, the tabby turned to face him, with anger shining in his green eyes.

"What do you know?" he spat, "You're half moor-runner! You probably couldn't make a proper tunnel if your life depended on it."

Anger swelled up in Falconkit's belly, but he willed his fur to stay flat, he didn't want to give Stoatpaw the satisfaction in letting him know, that he had upset him.

"You're not supposed to let the earth fly everywhere! You're supposed to dig gently, and then push it aside into a neat pile, which you will then use to help reinforce the tunnels," he meowed, quoting what Antclaw had once told him and his brother, Flamekit.

"Whatever," Stoatpaw sniffed, "I bet I could still do it better than you, I bet with your tiny paws, you couldn't even begin to dig a tunnel!"

Falconkit glanced down at his paws, and then let his gaze drift over to Stoatpaw's much larger ones.

"My paws will grow, you're just older than me," he squeaked, wrapping his tail over his paws, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Falconkit! Falconkit!"

The dark mottled tom turned his head, to see the familiar dark ginger pelt of his brother, Flamekit, racing towards him. He beamed at him, glad for the excuse to get away from Stoatpaw.

"Come quickly!" Flamekit gasped, "Molenose had her kits!"

"How many did she have?" Stoatpaw asked; interest laced his meow.

Falconkit figured the apprentice hoped he'd be mentoring one, seeing as both of their parents were tunnelers, they probably would be too.

"Three, two toms and a she-kit."

"I feel bad for that she-kit," Waspstorm mrrowed, as she passed by with Beeflight at her tail.

The pale tortoiseshell tabby shook her head.

"Imagine, having to share the nursery with all tom-kits."

"I could say the same thing about having to share the nursery with all she-kits," a deep voice snorted.

Falconkit turned his head, to see a broad shouldered black and white tom, though, it was hard to see any of the white from the mud that clung to his fur.

"Hornetstrike, congratulations! How is Molenose doing? Are the kits okay?"

"Can we see them?" Stoatpaw asked.

"I think we should let them rest first," Hornetstrike told his apprentice, before turning to Waspstorm, "They're all doing great."

"Have you named them yet?" Flamekit asked.

The black and white tom nodded.

"Molenose named the she-kit Cricketkit, and the two toms Flailkit and Whitekit."

"_Failkit_?" Falconkit hissed with disbelief, who'd name their kit _Failkit_? That just seemed cruel.

"No," Hornetstrike mrrowed, "_Flailkit_."

"Oh."

He still thought the name sounded a bit dumb, but of course he wouldn't tell Hornetstrike that though.

"Come on Stoatpaw, I'll teach you the proper way to dig a tunnel," the black and white tom meowed.

As the two cats padded away, Falconkit couldn't help but to feel smug, he told Stoatpaw that he was doing the tunnel wrong, and he had been right.

Once Beeflight and Waspstorm had raced off, he turned to his brother.

"I think Flailkit is a really dumb name," he blurted out the words that he had been holding back, ever since Hornetstrike announced their names.

"Falconkit!" Flamekit gasped with his eyes wide, "That's awful!"

"When I have kits, I'll give them fierce sounding names! Then, no one will ever mess with them!"

He fluffed his fur out, and pounced on his brother, feeling a slight stab of disappointment, when he didn't knock him over. He quickly brushed it off, he'd get stronger, soon, he'd be as solid as his littermate, and his paws would be even larger.

"Hey! What was that for?" Flamekit demanded, kicking him off with his hind legs.

"Battle practice!" Falconkit squealed, jumping to his paws, "You be ShadowClan!"

"No way, you be ShadowClan."

"But I was RiverClan last time, so this time, you have to be ShadowClan."

"But I don't want to be ShadowClan," Flamekit wrinkled his nose, "They smell."

"Yeah well," Falconkit twitched his whiskers, "Those fish-eaters smell even worse."

"No way, Sunpaw told me about how she almost fainted from ShadowClan's stench at the gathering."

Falconkit rolled his eyes.

"Sunpaw's over-dramatic, but whatever, they both stink, do you want to race?"

"Sure!" Flamekit bounded forward, and stood, so that their shoulders were touching, well, almost. Falconkit noticed with satisfaction that his shoulders reached up slightly higher than his brother's.

"After this, can we have a digging contest?" the dark ginger tom asked.

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Falconkit purred.

"Even though you lose every time?"

"Well, you lose at racing every time," Falconkit retorted, tempted to make a remark about his brother's short height, but he held his tongue.

He padded along with his brother, to go stand on a small hill in the clearing.

"Ready, go!"

At Flamekit's yowl, Falconkit tore forward, barely feeling his paws touch the ground, as he ran.

He closed his eyes, feeling the breeze sift through his pelt, growing stronger, as he raced faster across the clearing.

The scent of heather drifted to his nose, and he breathed deeply, wondering if even StarClan smelled this nice.

There was nothing that made him feel more free, more alive, than running.

Except for tunneling.

He stopped in his tracks at the sudden realization, and turned his head, to see if Flamekit was behind him. To his surprise, his brother was just a dark ginger speck in the distance.

He pondered on running and tunneling, as he waited for his littermate to reach him.

Running was great, it made him feel free, he loved feeling the wind in his fur, and he loved smelling all the scents that came along with it.

However, he also loved feeling earth on his fur, and the time Antclaw allowed him to go into a small tunnel she had dug for him and Flamekit, had been amazing.

His heart fluttered at the thought of how comforting the warm silence was, and how, no matter how hot it had been outside, that sweltering heat didn't seem to reach into the tunnel.

Not to mention, the pride that came with building a tunnel.

Often, he'd see Hornetstrike and the other tunnelers, walk with their heads held high, talking about the tunnel they were working on.

He wanted to be a part of that.

Moor runner or tunneler, he knew that whatever Froststar decided to train him in, he'd do whatever it took to make Antclaw and Midgepelt proud.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thank you everyone who submitted their OCs_

* * *

**Leader: Froststar - white tom**

**Deputy: Stormbreeze - pale grey tabby she-cat**

**Medicine Cat: Larkwing - silver-grey tabby**

_**Apprentice: Chivepaw**_

**Warriors:**

**Moor Runners:**

**Swiftflight - pale grey tabby tom**

**Midgepelt - patch-furred brown tom**

**Wheatpelt - pale brown tabby tom**

**Beeflight - pale torbie she-cat**

_**Apprentice: Briarpaw**_

**Waspstorm - dark torbie she-cat**

_**Apprentice: Silverpaw**_

**Doeshine - dark cream she-cat with white and silver spots**

**Tunnelers:**

**Hornetstrike - black and white tom**

_**Apprentice: Stoatpaw**_

**Featherleaf - fluffy black she-cat**

_**Apprentice: Sunpaw**_

**Marigoldshine - golden tabby she-cat**

**Apprentices:**

**Chivepaw - dark brown tom with yellow eyes**

**Sunpaw - pale ginger tabby she-cat**

**Stoatpaw - golden tabby tom with green eyes**

**Briarpaw - light mottled white and brown she cat with amber eyes**

**Silverpaw - silver she-cat with white spots and amber eyes**

**Queens:**

**Antclaw - tortoiseshell and white she-cat (mother of Midgepelt's kits, Falconkit and Flamekit)**

**Molenose - black she-cat (mother of Hornetstrike's kits, Cricketkit, Flailkit, and Whitekit)**

**Kits:**

**Falconkit - mottled dark stone-grey tom with a white underside**

**Flamekit - dark ginger tom**

**Cricketkit - black she-cat with yellow eyes**

**Flailkit - black tom tom with yellow eyes**

**Whitekit - small, pure white tom**

**Elders:**

**Rosestem - ginger tabby she-cat with green eyes**

* * *

"I bet we can dig a tunnel faster than you!"

Falconkit turned his head towards the corner of the nursery, where the four other kits were having a digging contest.

Whitekit and Cricketkit against Flamekit and Flailkit.

Jealousy burned his pelt, and he swallowed a lump in his throat, he should be the one on Flamekit's side, not Failkit.

No one wanted him on their team though.

However, he couldn't blame them, at only three moons old, compared to his own five moons of age, Molenose's kits already had larger paws, and broader shoulders than he did.

The only thing that seemed to have grown on him, were the length of his legs, and the size of his ears.

"You'll be able to hear ShadowClan coming from across the territory with those ears," Molenose had remarked once.

Even though he knew the black furred queen wasn't trying to make fun of him, her words still stung.

"Hey Falconkit."

He turned his head away from the other kits, to look at the mottled light brown and white face of Briarpaw; she was carrying a large golden brown feather in her mouth.

"I brought you a feather," the she-cat meowed, placing the feather down at his paws.

"For me?" he asked, staring up at her, his eyes wide with disbelief, had someone actually taken the time to do something nice for him?

She nodded, and a loud purr rumbled in Falconkit's chest.

"Thank you!"he exclaimed, rubbing his face against the feather, mrrowing slightly, as the soft wisps tickled his whiskers.

"I'll cherish it always."

Falconkit grabbed the feather gently in his jaws, not wanting to damage it, and took it over to his nest. He'd have to tell Flamekit not to accidentally lay on it, when he finished his digging contest.

"Briarpaw, come on, Beeflight and Waspstorm want to take us to Outlook Rock!" Silverpaw, Briarpaw's littermate called from outside the nursery.

"I have to go, but I'll come see you later."

Disappointment filled Falconkit's heart, until it felt like it would crumble.

'Stop being so selfish!' his inner voice reprimanded him, 'She's an apprentice, she has more important things to do, than to hang out with a dumb kit.'

With a sigh, Falconkit glanced back over at the other kits, feeling a claw of jealousy pierce his chest, when he saw Flamekit and Flailkit sharing tongues, acting as if they were littermates.

_He's my littermate!_

Every hair on Falconkit's pelt prickled with the urge to go over there, and to let Flailkit know that he wouldn't let him steal his littermate.

He held back a growl, and sank his claws into the ground, it seemed like ever since Molenose's kits had gotten old enough to actually do stuff, Flamekit has been spending more time with them, instead of him, Flailkit especially.

"Froststar! Froststar! Come quickly!"

At the sound of his father's distressed voice, Falconkit raced out of the nursery, to see Midgepelt rushing into the clearing, following him, were Wheatpelt and Swiftflight, who were flanking two cats whom Falconkit had never seen before.

One was a mottled tortoiseshell and white tom, with yellow eyes that seemed to bore right into him.

The other was a large black tom with a white paw and belly.

They both looked like the type of cat, who would shred him; he wondered if they were from ShadowClan.

"We caught these cats sniffing around the border," Swiftflight announced.

"I wanted to claw their pelts off," Wheatpelt's growled. Like always, the pale brown tabby's voice was just a raspy whisper, so Falconkit had to strain his ears, to hear what he had said.

"But then we decided that we should talk to you first."

"I'm glad you went with the right choice, I don't want to start fights over two rogues," the white tom meowed, he then turned to the two strange cats.

"What are your names, and what were you doing by our borders? Surely you smelled our markers?"

The tortoiseshell tom stepped forward.

"Apologies, I'm Rowan and this is my friend Razor, we've heard all about the clans, and well, we decided to give it a try."

"Give it a try?" Wheatpelt hissed, "You can't just decide to become a clan cat, a warrior over night! Do you know how many moons of hard work and dedication it takes to get where we are? Do you even know the first thing about the warrior code, or what it means to defend your clan with your life?"

The large black tom growled, and stepped towards Wheatpelt.

"Who do you think-"

"Enough!" the tortoiseshell meowed, barring the larger cat with his tail, "We don't want to cause problems with these cats."

He turned to Froststar.

"We're sorry for the intrusion, but we really think this is the best thing for us, and we'll do whatever it takes to prove that we're worthy of being warriors."

Wheatpelt opened his mouth, but Froststar shot him a look, and he clamped his jaws shut with a glare.

"Maybe it could be a good thing," Stormbreeze meowed, "After losing so many cats to greencough this past leaf-bare, it'll be good to have more cats."

"Molenose and Hornetstrike just had a litter of three healthy kits! We don't need outsiders," Wheatpelt growled.

"Maybe we could give them a trial run?" Marigoldshine suggested, padding up with Hornetstrike, Featherleaf, Stoatpaw, and Sunpaw following.

"I don't want to share a den with non-WindClan cats," Stoatpaw growled.

"Be nice!" his mentor hissed.

"A trial run sounds like a good idea," Froststar meowed, "One can train as a tunneler and one can train as a moor runner."

"You can't really expect them to learn a skill that we've been practicing since we were kits!" Wheatpelt exclaimed.

"We will try our hardest," Rowan meowed.

Falconkit suddenly felt a warm soft pelt brush against his, and he turned his head, to look into the bright blue eyes of his mother.

"Come on little one," she meowed softly, "This is no place for kits to be right now."

He followed her without protest, because he knew it wouldn't be of any use to argue with her, what she said went.

However, as he went, he couldn't help but to wonder what Froststar would decide to do with the two rogues, and if it would be a good or a bad thing for WindClan.


	3. Chapter 3

With his pelt neatly groomed, and his heart beating in his chest, Falconkit stood beside his brother, who was shuffling his paws, as they waited for Froststar to give them their apprentice names, and their mentors.

Would he make him a moor runner or a tunneler? Falconkit wondered. He already knew without a doubt, that Flamekit would be a tunneler.

"Falconkit!" Froststar called.

_Well, it looks like I'm going to find out now!_

With shaky paws, Falconkit padded up to the Tallrock, taking special care not to trip over his own paws, or something embarrassing like that.

After what seemed like moons, he finally made it, and he hopped up beside the white-pelted leader, breathing out a sigh of relief, that he managed to make it without any mishaps.

"Falconkit, from this day forth until you get your warrior name, you will be Falconpaw," Falconkit's heart sank in his chest, when Froststar beckoned Wheatpelt up.

Why Wheatpelt? He was the meanest cat in WindClan!

"Wheatpelt, you are a fierce and loyal warrior, I hope you will pass everything you know onto your apprentice."

"I will," Wheatpelt rasped.

Trying not to let his disappointment show, Falconkit touched noses with the pale tabby warrior.

"Falconpaw! Falconpaw!" his clanmates called, and his disappointment was diminished slightly, by a sense of pride.

"Flamekit!" Froststar called.

Falconpaw watched as his brother padded up to the leader, taking careful steps just as he had.

_Please don't let him trip._

Thankfully, he too was able to make it up to Froststar without any mishaps.

"Flamekit, from this day forth until you get your warrior name, you will be Flamepaw," Froststar beckoned a cat up with his tail, and his heart sank in his chest, when he saw that the ragged grey pelt belonged to Whiskerface, a tunneler.

He wasn't sure why he was upset, he knew that Flamepaw was going to be a tunneler, and it wasn't like they would never see each other again.

"Flamepaw! Flamepaw!"

The cheering of his clanmates, broke him out of his thoughts, and he started cheering along with them until his voice was hoarse.

"Can you believe it? We're apprentices now!" Flamepaw exclaimed, rushing over to him.

"And we're warriors," Silverstrike purred, she and Briarstream had received their warrior names, shortly before Falconpaw and Flamepaw had gotten their apprentice names.

At first, Falconpaw had been disappointed that he wouldn't be as apprentices with Briarstream, but as soon as he saw the joy in her eyes, his disappointment disappeared, replaced with pride for her.

She was a great apprentice, and she'd be an even better warrior, he was sure of it.

Once Froststar had returned to his den, Wheatpelt turned to Falconpaw.

"Come on, we'll explore the territory."

"Do you mind if we tag along?" Nightwind asked, padding up with his apprentice, Grasspaw, who was scowling.

"Why do I have to go? I've already explored the territory, I've been an apprentice for two moons!" the light brown tabby spat.

"Shut up, Grasspaw, you do what your mentor tells you to do," Wheatpelt growled.

"Thank you, Wheatpelt, but I think I can manage my own apprentice," Nightwind meowed lowly.

Wheatpelt snorted, but said nothing, instead, he turned back to Falconpaw, who felt the urge to shrink down beneath his amber glare.

"Come on, we can explore the territory later, I have a better idea."

"And what idea is this?" Nightwind sighed.

Falconpaw's heart pounded in his chest, was Wheatpelt planning on making them attack ShadowClan? Surely he wouldn't do that, not on his first day of being an apprentice!

"A race!" the pale tabby exclaimed, "Nightwind, our apprentices will race each other, and if my apprentice wins, then you have to clean out my nest, and clear off my ticks for a moon! And if by some miracle your apprentice wins, then I suppose I'll be stuck doing that for you."

What? Falconpaw couldn't believe what he was hearing, his mentor wanted him to race against Grasspaw? He'd only been made an apprentice today! Grasspaw had more training than he did, she was bigger than him, there was no way he'd win.

"Oh, you're going down," the other apprentice whispered in his ear, sending a shiver down Falconpaw's spine. When she talked quietly, she sounded just like Wheatpelt.

"Is that even fair? Grasspaw has way more experience than Falconpaw," Nightwind meowed.

"I have faith in my apprentice."

His mentor's words should have made Falconpaw feel happy, happy that he had so much faith in him.

However, he felt nothing but fear, the fear of failing, and letting him down.

He knew that if he lost this race, then Wheatpelt would never speak to him again, and if he did, it would be to yowl at him, or to tell him that he had to go clear ticks off the elders. He'd probably even make him take on the responsibility of the bet.

Or even worse, he'd tell Froststar that he didn't even want him as an apprentice anymore.

Not that Falconpaw would mind that much, he'd rather have anyone else as a mentor than Wheatpelt.

"Wait!" his mentor lifted his head, and the fur on the back of his neck bristled, "I smell ShadowClan."

"I don't smell anything," Nightwind meowed. Falconpaw parted his jaws, breathing in deeply, but only the scent of dew-stained grass hit him.

"They're coming to attack us, I just know it," Wheatpelt growled, pacing back and forth. He suddenly stopped, and turned to Grasspaw.

"Run back to camp and get the others."

"She's _my_ apprentice," Nightwind spat.

"And she's _my daughter_, I don't want her involved in this battle," Wheatpelt growled with fury shining in his eyes.

Would he have to fight? Falconpaw wondered, he didn't particularly want to, especially since he had no training, but if it was needed to protect his clan, his family, then he would fight with everything he had.

"Falconpaw, you go back to camp too, you've got no training, you'll just get in the way."

Even though Wheatpelt's words were mean, Falconkit couldn't help but to breathe out a sigh of relief, glad that he wouldn't have to fight.

He started to pad back to camp, when suddenly, a shriek caused him to turn around, and he saw Nightwind being pinned by a grey ShadowClan warrior!

Then, another ShadowClan warrior lunged at Wheatpelt, and he grabbed her by her scruff, tossing her aside. However, two more ShadowClan warriors leapt forward, knocking the pale tabby off his paws.

Falconpaw stood there, not knowing what to do, his mentor had told him to go back to camp, but he couldn't just leave them there, two warriors to face what seemed like all of ShadowClan, he noticed, as more cats started coming forth.

Not thinking for another moment, he lept into the fray, throwing himself onto the back of one of the warriors who was holding Wheatpelt down.

The warrior let out a hiss, and bucked her hips, throwing Falconpaw off.

Letting out a slight hiss of pain, he slowly got back up to his paws, and started to go back over there, but to his relief, he saw a hoard of WindClan cats heading his way.

We're going to be okay, he thought, WindClan will teach those ShadowClan cats a lesson, and send them away licking their wounds.

He just hoped that Wheatpelt wouldn't be too angry with him for disobeying his orders.


	4. Chapter 4

"Retreat! WindClan retreat!"

Froststar's words pierced through Falconpaw like a claw, _they lost_?

"This isn't over," Wheatpelt growled, before turning to Falconpaw, anger lit his amber gaze, and he knew, that it was from more than just losing the battle.

As Wheatpelt started making his way over to him, Falconpaw fought the urge to cower and beg for mercy.

"You," the pale tabby snarled, "I thought I told you to go back to camp!"

"I-I just wanted to do what was best for my clan."

"Doing what's best for your clan, is listening to the orders that your mentor gives you, WindClan has no place for disobedient cats."

Falconpaw's heart thudded painfully in his chest, was he going to be kicked out?

"Simmer down Wheatpelt," Stormbreeze meowed, resting her tail over his shoulders, "This isn't the first time a cat has disobeyed orders, and it won't be the last."

"How can you be so calm about this, Stormbreeze? He could have gotten himself killed."

"If I can recall, it doesn't seem like that long ago, that you were throwing yourself into battles, and not minding what your mentor told you to do," the grey tabby purred.

"Come on everyone, let's go back to camp," Froststar growled, as he passed by in a huff.

Falconpaw followed his clanmates, even though his mentor was no longer glaring at him, he couldn't get his fur to lay flat.

Not only was he afraid of what his punishment would be, but he was also afraid of what happened, why had ShadowClan just attacked them like that?

"All the injured cats go to Larkwing and Chivepaw!" Froststar called once they neared the camp.

It was then that Falconpaw noticed the pain in his foreleg, and how every step felt like agony.

Wheatpelt must have noticed he was in pain too, because he growled.

"Go see Larkwing and Chivepaw."

"What about you?" Falconpaw asked, noticing that his mentor had deep scratches along his side.

"Don't worry about me," Wheatpelt meowed, flicking Falconpaw's nose with his tail.

The apprentice turned to head towards the medicine cat den, when Grasspaw came bounding over to them.

"What was the battle like? Did any cats die? Did you teach ShadowClan a lesson?"

"No, no one died thank StarClan, and we didn't teach ShadowClan a lesson," Wheatpelt growled, extending his claws, "But we will."

"Well, I'm going to be there for that battle, I'm not missing out again."

Wheatpelt snorted and shook his head.

"Over my dead body."

"Wheatpelt," Stormbreeze meowed lowly, "You're going to have to let Grasspaw grow up sometime, it's part of being a warrior to fight in battles."

"But she's not a warrior yet," the pale tabby hissed, "She still has four more moons!"

"Yes, but apprentices fight in battles too, your apprentice fought in the one today," Swiftflight meowed.

A gasp sounded from behind Falconpaw, and he turned his head, to see Cricketkit staring at him, her yellow eyes opened wide in awe.

"You really fought in a battle?" she asked.

"He was very brave," Briarstream meowed, as she padded by with Silverstrike.

Falconpaw's pelt warmed at the beautiful she-cat's compliment.

"Brave?" Wheatpelt snorted, "More like stupid." He narrowed his eyes,

"Didn't I tell you to go see the medicine cats?"

"Yes, Wheatpelt," Falconpaw sighed, before making his way over to Larkwing and Chivepaw's den.

He didn't mind the fact that he had to see the medicine cats, Larkwing was really kind, and Chivepaw was his brother, even if they weren't from the same litter, however, he didn't want to leave Briarstream's side.

This is silly! He shook thoughts of her out of his head. She was a warrior, and he was only an apprentice, she would never like him like him, at least not yet.

* * *

"Everyone who is going to the gathering, let's go, we don't want to show up late, and let ShadowClan think that they scared us," Froststar announced.

Falconpaw trembled with both nerves and excitement, as he padded after his clanmates.

"Can you believe it? Our first gathering! I wonder what all the other clans are like?" Flamepaw meowed, falling into step beside his brother.

"I don't know, but if they're anything like ShadowClan, then I doubt we'll get along."

It had been a moon since the fight with ShadowClan, and Falconpaw's shoulder was just starting to feel better, however, Wheatpelt still reprimanded him every chance he got, and he had just finished his punishment of clearing ticks off the elders every single day since the battle, alone.

"Looks like ThunderClan's the only one here," Froststar meowed, when they had reached Four Trees.

Falconpaw's eyes widened with awe, when he looked at the large cats in the clearing, they looked like they could knock even Froststar aside with one paw.

"Can we talk to the other apprentices?" Flamepaw asked.

"I guess, I don't see why you'd want to, but whatever," Whiskerface meowed.

"Come on!" Flamepaw darted off, and Falconpaw followed him, keeping a nose out for when ShadowClan would appear.

He knew there was supposed to be a truce at the gathering, but he wouldn't put it past those sneaky stinky cats to break the rules.

"Hey!" Falconpaw turned his head, and found himself staring into the amber eyes of a ginger and white she-cat.

"I'm Maplepaw, I'm from ThunderClan."

"Nice to meet you," Flamepaw dipped his head, and Falconpaw followed suit, "I'm Flamepaw and this is Falconpaw, we're from WindClan."

"Yeah, that's apparent, I mean, WindClan is the only clan here right now besides us," Maplepaw lifted her muzzle and sniffed, "I don't smell ShadowClan yet, but I think I can smell RiverClan."

She lowered her head,

"So, is this your first gathering?"

Falconpaw started to say it was, when he was suddenly shoved roughly aside.

"My my, aren't you the prettiest she-cat on this side of the river?" his assailant, a pale brown tom, purred to Maplepaw.

Falconpaw raised his paw, ready to slap that cat for shoving him, when Flamepaw stopped him.

"The truce, remember?" he whispered.

Falconpaw opened his mouth to protest, when a large dark brown tabby tom's deep meow drowned out all thoughts of what he was going to say.

"That's Oakstar," Maplepaw whispered, "He's my leader."

"Things are going great in ThunderClan, with the new moon, comes new life, Ravenkit was born to Bloomheart and-"

"Ravenkit is soooo adorable! He's really noisy though, I've barely gotten any sleep since he was born," Maplepaw grumbled.

"That's tough," Falconpaw meowed, earning a flick on his ear from Wheatpelt.

"Shut up and listen," his mentor hissed.

"Oh look, it's that attractive tom we beat," a she-cat hissed from behind them. Falconpaw turned his head, to see a dark grey tabby she-cat sitting next to a cream she-cat.

"Shut up, Swallowsnout," the cream she-cat hissed.

"Pay no attention to those ShadowClan cats," Wheatpelt growled.

They were ShadowClan?

Holding back a growl, Falconpaw turned his attention back to the leaders, to see that Oakstar had sat down, and now, a black she-cat was standing up.

"Things are also going great in RiverClan, the prey is swimming well," she meowed.

Falconpaw's fur stood on end, when the ShadowClan leader stood up, would she announce the attack? Would she make it seem like it was WindClan's fault?

"Prey is running well in ShadowClan."

"That's it?" Falconpaw hissed, when she sat back down, he was glad that she didn't try to blame WindClan for anything, but he thought there'd be more.

He didn't think about it long, because Froststar stood up.

"Other than the un-needed attack on WindClan by ShadowClan," his leader began, glaring into the crowd, "Things are going well, we have two new warriors, Briarpaw and Silverpaw are now Briarstream and Silverstrike."

"Briarstream! Silverstrike!" Falconpaw called along with his clanmates. His heart fluttered in his chest, as he caught glimpse of Briarstream, her fur looked radiant in the moonlight.

"We also have two new apprentices, Falconkit and Flamekit are now Falconpaw and Flamepaw."

Falconpaw's ears warmed with both embarrassment and pride, when everyone started calling his and his brother's names. Shockingly, even the ShadowClan cats were.

"I guess if that's all, then we can call this gathering to a close?" Oakstar meowed.

The other leaders nodded their agreements.

Falconpaw could barely get his fur to lay flat, as he followed his clanmates back to camp. The gathering had been everything he ever imagined, and more! Not only did he get to see cats from all the other clans, but he had actually spoken to a ThunderClan cat!

He couldn't wait until the next gathering, he just hoped that Maplepaw would be there.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you Serpentfeather and Conifeather ****for their ocs**

* * *

Falconpaw watched with narrowed eyes, as Cricketpaw touched noses with Snakeleap.

Why had Froststar given her Snakeleap as a mentor? He was a moor runner!

"Cricketpaw! Cricketpaw!" he cheered along with his clanmates, as though by instinct, however, he felt extremely confused.

"This is great isn't it?" Flamepaw asked, bounding over to him, with Flailpaw and Whitepaw following.

"Two new tunnelers! I have other cats to train with now!

A moon after Flamepaw and Falconpaw had become apprentices, Stoatfang and Sunstripe had become warriors.

"Yeah, that is great," Falconpaw purred, though, it really should have been three more tunnelers.

He glanced over at Cricketpaw, her legs were way too short! She'd never keep up with the other moor runners.

"Well, we better go now, we're working on a new tunnel!" Flamepaw exclaimed, with his eyes gleaming.

He then padded away, with Flailpaw and Whitepaw, before Falconpaw could get a word out.

"Be careful," he muttered under his breath. He had heard a lot of horror stories from Antclaw, about how tunneling was super dangerous, and how cats even died doing it.

Thankfully, he never met a cat who died while tunneling, and he never wanted to.

"I can't believe Froststar made Cricketpaw a moor runner," Grasspaw hissed quietly, Falconpaw turned his head, to see the light brown tabby glaring at the black she-cat.

"Yeah, well, the more the merrier I guess," Falconpaw meowed, though, he felt the same way she did.

Grasspaw shook her head.

"If Froststar wanted more moor runners, he should have waited until more kits were born, kits whose parents are moor runners, Cricketpaw comes from a long line of tunnelers, and it shows, I say we ice her out, we completely ignore her, until she begs Froststar to make her a tunneler like she should be."

"That's not very nice," Ryepaw, hissed quietly. Like Grasspaw and Falconpaw, she was a moor runner, but she rarely talked to anyone other than her mentor, Adderstrike.

"Oh my Ryepaw, I can't believe you said that!" Grasspaw gasped.

"B-But it's true," the grey-brown tabby muttered, staring down at her paws. Falconpaw felt a wave of pity for the shy she-cat.

"Hey everyone!" Grasspaw called, several cats looked in her direction, and Wheatpelt rolled his eyes, muttering something that Falconpaw couldn't hear.

"Ryepaw thinks that Cricketpaw shouldn't be a moor runner, she said that she's a worm, and she should go underground with all the other worms."

"I-I never said that," Ryepaw squeaked out.

"Did too, Falconpaw can confirm it, can't you?" Grasspaw's meow had a slight edge on it, and her amber eyes pierced through him like thorns.

He didn't know what to say, on one paw, Grasspaw was lying, and on the other, he didn't want her to hate him, especially since her father was his mentor.

"Don't listen to them Cricketpaw, they don't know anything," Stormpaw, Swiftflight's apprentice, meowed, wrapping her tail around the black she-cat, who was looking down at her paws.

Paws that were much too large to be a moor runner. He narrowed his eyes, Grasspaw was right! She belonged down in the tunnels with her brothers, not on the moors with them.

"This is dumb, we should stop wasting our time over pointless drama, and start patrolling the borders, we don't want another attack from ShadowClan, do we?" Wheatpelt growled, extending his claws.

"This isn't pointless drama!" Molenose growled with a lash of her tail, "This involves my daughter."

"Oh, so you're only speaking up because it's your kit?" Waspstorm asked.

"No, I'd defend any kit, but it seems like my kit is going to be bullied, and I won't stand for it."

The dark furred tunneler cast a glare at Grasspaw, it was obvious that she saw right through her lie.

"My kit would never bully anyone!" Stormbreeze hissed.

"Oh, I bet ShadowClan is thinking of ways to attack WindClan right now, they're probably on the edge of the border, watching us thinking, ope, well WindClan is distracted, we better go and attack them while their guard is down," Wheatpelt grumbled.

Stormbreeze rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Wheatpelt, ShadowClan can't even see us from here."

"Well, no one is out there defending the borders," the pale tabby retorted.

"He's right," Stoatfang growled, extending his claws, "We need to go to the borders, and teach those ShadowClan cats a lesson they'll never forget!"

Falconpaw narrowed his eyes at the ginger tabby, what did he care? Tunnelers rarely ever fought.

"Why spill blood when we don't have to? If ShadowClan chooses to attack us, then we will fight with all the fierceness of our warrior ancestors, but for now, let's just keep the peace," Froststar meowed sternly.

"Keep the peace?" Wheatpelt spat, bristling, "Looking weak is more like it!"

"Yeah!" Grasspaw exclaimed, slashing the air with her claws, "I want to teach ShadowClan to never attack us again!"

"Enough!" Stormbreeze spat, stepping into the middle of the cats, "Froststar is our leader, and we will respect his decision, if I hear about anyone trying to start anything with ShadowClan, then they will get tick duty for a moon," she narrowed her sky colored eyes, "That goes for the warriors, as well as the apprentices!"

"You're not the leader, you can't tell us what to do," Stoatfang growled.

"No, but she is the deputy, and a senior warrior at that, you will respect her, and I agree completely with what she has said," Froststar meowed firmly.

"Wait a whisker-twitch," Hornetstrike narrowed his eyes, "Ryepaw's parents were Cloudsky and Gorsewhisker right?"

"Yes," Marigoldshine sighed, looking up at the sky, "I still miss tunneling with them every day."

"Exactly! Tunneling!" the black and white tom paced across the clearing, "Why would Ryepaw make fun of Cricketpaw, for having tunneler parents, when her parents were tunnelers themselves?"

Falconpaw looked over with shock at the long legged apprentice, her parents were tunnelers? No way!

"Well, maybe she's upset, that she's not the only special cat out on the moors, so she's taking it out on poor Cricketpaw," Grasspaw sneered.

"Nightwind, you should really teach your apprentice some manners," Swiftflight growled.

"Hey! It's not my fault that she's an entitled brat," the black tom protested.

Suddenly, a yowl sounded from Wheatpelt, and he leapt onto the other warrior.

Falconpaw's eyes widened, when he saw blood trickle from Nightwind's pelt, Wheatpelt was fighting him with his claws unsheathed!

"Stop! We shouldn't be fighting against our own clanmates!" Midgepelt cried.

Thankfully, before the fight could get too out of paw, Stormbreeze stomped over, and grabbed Wheatpelt by his scruff, lifting him off of Nightwind, as though he were just a kit, and not a warrior.

When she dropped him to the ground, the pale tabby glared up accusingly at his mate.

"He was talking about our daughter!"

"I know, but that doesn't give you the right to start acting like a rogue," the deputy hissed.

The way they were bickering, and shooting each other looks of hatred, made Falconpaw wonder if there was any love left between them, he glanced over at Grasspaw, who was looking down at her paws, not looking arrogant for once, and he was surprised to find, that he actually felt bad for her.


End file.
